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PUTNAM--- The Putnam Lodge of Elks will again offer a Veterans Appreciation Dinner free to alocal veterans Nov. 14 in their hall at 64 Edmond St.
Special guest speaker will be Andi Grant of Avon, president and founder of Give2TheTroops, a non-profit organization she started with her son in the basement of her home while her Marine reservist husband was deployed to Iraq in 2002.
“Volunteers supporting Give2TheTroops spend many weekends,” according to Putnam Elks Veterans Chairman Andrew Barylski Jr., “preparing care packages and letters to send our deployed and wounded troops stationed around the globe, including making out the dreaded customs declaration forms for each package.”
The all-volunteer group, he added, has since spread nationwide and is responsible for sending nearly 96,000 packages averaging 65 pounds to about a million service men and women serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and other combat zones.
Other speaking guests will include Putnam Deputy Mayor Richard “Pete” Place and several stat-e or district -evel Elks officers.
“Many people believe that Veterans Day is a day to honor those Americans who have died in combat, however,” Putnam Elks Exalted Ruler Lisa Morrissette said, “Memorial Day is the day set aside for that purpose.
“Veterans Day is a day to honor all veterans, both living and dead,” Morrissette added, “but especially the living. As long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.”
The Putnam Elks Lodge’s Veterans Appreciation Dinner, free of charge to all local veterans, will begin with a social hour at 1 p.m., followed by dinner at 2 p.m. and ending with the speaking program at 3 p.m. A $5 donation is asked of all non-veterans attending.